Improvement in hat-sizing machines



E. BEBSLEY. 2 Hat-Sizing Machine.

No. 222,117. 7 Patented Nov. 25, 1879.

N PETERS. PHOTOLITHOGRAFMER. WASHINGTON D c.

UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

EDWARD BEESLEY, OF NEVVARK, N. J., ASS1GNOR,BY MESNE ASSIGNMENT, TO SAMUEL WRIGLEY AND MARY A. GILHAM, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN HAT-SIZING MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 222,1 [7, dated November 25, 1879 application filed July 26, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD BEESLEY, of Newark, county of Essex, State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hat-Sizin g Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in hat-sizing machines; and it consists in a novel construction of revolving drum, around which the hats are packed in contact with presses of various kinds; and it also consists in the construction and arrangement of the presses and supporting-tank.

Figure l of the drawings is a vertical section on the middle'line of Fig. 2, which is a front elevation of my improved machine, with a portion of the drum in section to show its internal construction. Figs. 3 and at are enlarged views of the resser-rolls and tightening devices.

A is a water-tank, which serves as a foundation for the machine. B is a steam-pipe for heating the water, and G are bearin gs on the ends of the tanks for the journals 0 of the revolving drum a.

The drum is driven by pulley D at one end,

and at the other it is connected by a swiveljoint, E, to a pipe, F, by which Water under pressure may be introduced into the inside of the drum through the hollow journal.

Disks G are secured to the ends of the tank inside, and, being concentric with the bearings G, serve to support the pressers employed to hold the hats against the drum. The disks are formed with slots 9 in a series around the drum, and the pressers are projected through the slots to receive the pressure of springs h or h, which are provided for that purpose.

The pressers may be made as rollers i, or of hinged slats j, pivoted to the disks at one of their edges, and provided at the free edge, which is pressed toward the drum by the springs h, with rollers, as at m, or with a rounded bead, as at n.

The essential novelty about the drum consists in its having a yielding surface, distended by water or spring pressure, and in forming the surface with ridges, preferably inclined to the axis of the drum, for catching-and rolling the hats (indicated at .k) against the series of pressers.

The construction shown is as follows: Heads a are secured to the journals 0, andthe space between them-is covered within dia-ru bber cloth or other yielding material, a putonloosely, so as to yield freely to internal and external pressure. In Fig. 1 a portion of the covering a is shown provided with ribs a, of the same material, cemented thereto, and serving as ridges to engage with the bundles of hats and turn them over and over as the drum revolves inside the series of pressers. At a a portion of the covering is shown included between cleats secured to the heads and pressed outward between the cleats c to form ridges,..as desired.

The ribs a and cleats 0 may be arranged diagonally, as shown in Fig. 2, so that their action upon the bundles k may be more gradual and efi'ective in rolling the bundles tightly.

When distended by water-pressure the drum may be entirely hollow, as shown in the lower part of Fig. 1; but when formed with cleats c, I prefer to make a solid wooden core between the heads a, to which the cleats may be secured in their entire length. Such a core is shown at A in the upper part of Fig. 1, where holes 0 are shown, serving to conduct the water from the central opening, 1", to the ridges or outside the core, and a Wooden pusher, Z1, is shown fitted to a longitudinal groove in the core beneath one of the ridges, and provided with springs c to keep the ridge distended, as desired;

Ifpreferred, the bundles of hats maybe removed by turning up one of the hinged slatsj upon its pivots, and the entire circle of the drum may thus be surrounded by pressing devices to operate uninterruptedly upon the hats .while they remain in the machine.

A gap being left in the series of rollers at the front side of the machine near the top, the bundles are readily introduced without stopping the rotation of the drum, and as readily removed when they have been subjected to the combined action of the pressers and drum a sufficient time. The machine is thus much more convenient and profitable to use than one requiring to be filled and discharged at fixed intervals while at rest, and as its performance is very rapid, owing to the peculiar pressure" exerted bythe diagonal yielding ridges, its product of work is much greater per day than that of other machines.

In order to regulate the pressure exerted by the rollers or other pressers arranged about the drum, I sometimes employ the form of spring shown at h and h, which consists of a band of elastic material applied to all the rollers or pressers by means of rollers k, provided at the ends of the pressing-rolls, and by passing it directly over the outside of the hinged slot j. The ends of the band are shown secured to the opposite sides of a tighteningroll, Z, Fig. 1, which is provided with a ratchet, p, and pawl q at the end, to hold it in any position in which it may be placed by the turning-plate 23, (shown secured to the ratchet in Fig. 3.) By this device the spring h can be materially increased in power, and by providing a similar spring-band, h, Fig. 2, outside of each disk G the pressure can be doubled toward the close of the felting process, the elastic spring band h being placed upon the pressers at the required time to produce the desired effect.

1-. The combination of a revolving drum, constructed with yielding ridges upon its surface, with a series of spring-pressers arranged concentrically around the drum and mounted therewith upon a hot-water tank, substantially as herein set forth.

2. In a drum having a yielding covering distended by water or spring pressure, substantially as herein described, the combination of the diagonal cleats 0 with the core of the drum for forming the ridges of diagonally, for the purpose herein set forth.

3. The combination of the tank A, disks G, carrying a series of pressers, as herein described, and drum A, provided with a yieldin g covering, and form ed with a hollow journal for the introduction of water, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereto set my hand this 26th day of June, 1879.

, EDIVA RD BEESLEY.

Attest:

'l. S. CRANE, WM. L. BREATH. 

